A Red Dawn
The faint sound of static pulsed in his ear as he lay on the cold rockcrete surface, centuries old specks of dust and debris floated just above the floor catching at his nose like an ever present itch that he tried to suppress with an ever increasing level of difficulty. Rolling to his side for a moment for what felt like the tenth time in as many minutes he blew a quick snort from his nostrils to clear them before pulling the dust cloth back up around his mouth and readjusted himself back into position as he rested his head against the old rubber eye rest before him. Making a small movement he fiddled with the contrast gain on the electronic binoculars control dials as the image flickered and faintly buzzed for a moment before sharpening once more into a steady see of greens, greys and blacks as he cast his gaze out from his perch across the borders of the territory. Slowly he would sweep his view over the empty decrepit buildings and silent roadways for hours at a time before switching with his watch partner who would then take over and repeat the process until they were relieved by the next watch rotation who took over picket duty for this sector of the perimeter. Nothing had really caught their attention over the course of the day so far beyond the usual occasional pack of scavengers squabbling over some trinket that would result in either a pitiful squabble or a loud argument and short lived fire fight before one group or the other lost their nerve, and disappeared back into the midst of ruins whilst the other would prance about gloating before disappearing of their own accord in due course. He mentally shook his head at the fact as he resettled into his watch as the faint static pulsed steadily in his ear as his radio chuntered along to the background interference that was so prevalent through out the ruins. The only other sound in the room he occupied was the small click that would emanate from off to the left of his prone position as his watch partner made an adjustment to the scope of her rifle as she watched the long road leading past their position and towards the rest of the 1st chapters main position further on within the territory. Another static pulse clipped through his radio head set followed this time however by a shunted tap pulse, Connors put a hand to his head to listen intently as he held up a hand in silence, getting a questioning glance from Corporal Sarn as she looked down at him from her snipers rest. Another static pulse, then a hard tap, followed by a pulse and two further taps. Connors reach behind him and grabbed a set of a note pad and began to note down the pulses and shunts until they began to form a steady pattern before wordlessly showing it to the Sarn as he began to pan the electronic binoculars round to certain key points they had noted down on their arrival at the picket post, all the while the static pulses and hard taps of interference becoming more and more regular until they formed a steady pattern over the radio channel. Reaching to his side Connors pulled a handheld radio out from his day pack and made a few adjustments to the hand set before finally breaking the silence “OP Whiskey Niner to Charlie Command, Sierra Activity possible confirmation, say again Sierra activity identified, Over” The radio whined for a moment before crackling into life in response “Reading you Whiskey Niner, standing advised at this time, can confirm activity location, case tango notified, Over” the radio squawked back as he made another adjustment to the dials on the electronic lenses, signalling Sarn with a quick hand signal who was panning her snipers scope around already as they both looked for the tell tale signs of a possible swarm on the move. “Point 332, secondary access junction” Sarn called over to Connors who quickly flicked his attention over to where Sarn had indicated, the bincoulars filter screen fizzing with glare for a moment before coming into focus once more on a secondary roadway over shadowed by a half collapsed transmission pylon. In the darkness the very edge of something seemed to swell and merge, and then swell again before the first few organisms scuttled out into the half light. In their midst a larger creature covered in blistered and pock marked carapace ambled its way forward with a roar echoing from its mandibles as the lesser creatures swirled around it before surging forward at the road into a wave of living chitin, scraps of cloth and irradiated ichor. “Howler pack, Mid-strength being led by a alpha, scout forms” Sarn muttered under her breath “two more groups, similar strength” Connor responded as further groupings of mutants emerged from the darkness of other tunnels forming their own living carpets of mutation that began to move forward into the ruins. “Shit, Patriarch brood following up the first pack” Sarn shifted her position as she began to slow her breathing “Confirmed, full scout strain” Connors spotted them as the brood looped into the territory like shepherds guiding their flock onwards. He grabbed the radio, speaking rapidly and listening to the response as Sarn’s own radio clipped into life with confirmation chatter from other picket posts up and down the boundary routes. “30 seconds to effective rifle, adjusting sights” Connors notice Sarn was barely breathing as she became perfectly still for a moment; flicking the dusk covers off from her main sights with her left hand, before the snap crack bark of her rifle going off filled the room, followed by a rippling repeat from several picket posts to their north and south as the picket snipers each opened fire in turn. Through the binoculars Connors could make out one of the Alpha’s going down in a explosion of thick ichor and fractured carapace as the howlers instinctively spread out at the sudden sound, the Patriarchs letting out a shrill keening call that seemed to drive the howlers into a frenzy as one of the Patriarchs was hit square in what would have been the throat on a human. The creature squealed as the others shifted to cover the their injured brood kin, Connors picked up his own rifle and flicked the safety off as he began to disassemble the electronic binoculars and pull his day pack back on, all the time the chatter in his radio head set in increasing with each passing minute, another snap crack from Sarn's rifle downing another of the mutant kind as Connors flicked back over to the command channel “OP Whiskey Niner to Charlie command, Contact confirmed, say again contact confirmed, Sierra activity at the perimeter”... Military Campaign Progress Since the dawn of mankind there have been warriors who would spend each waking moment training and practicing their craft, through the periods of peace and the moments of tension they would train in the half fire light by the caves entrance to defend their tribe, and as tribes became villages they would marshal into small rings to clash with one another to strengthen their arm so that when the call came they would stand as the shield of their people, unbowed and unbroken by the onslaught. This sense of martial pride has grown with each passing era that mankind and civilisation as a whole has gone through as villages became towns, and towns joined with others to form fiefdoms and eventually states that would span their lands from horizon to horizon and further on. Those same warriors would become militias and those militias true soldiers as technology advanced to the tune of their needs, each generation bringing within a further step forwards until the very core of the warriors would sit like a coiled spring, brutally controlled fury tempered with the pride in their way of life and ever ready at but a simple word to snap forth to unleash their full anger onto those that would threaten their peoples existence. In this as nation states became empires and eventually fractured into new states cultures would arise where the terrible wrath of soldiers would keep the state in a perpetual motion of readiness that would one day see a likeness staring back at them that would again send the era into a bloody clash of wills that would drive it forward, the tapestry of history forever marked by the unleashing of those very soldiers on the field of war. As humanity spread around the globe and eventually grasped the stars around them this formation of warriors and ever readiness would come to define those with the will to seize the moment, and where some would abuse this readiness for their own goals in the pursuit of greed, there would be some that would once again stand and practice in the light to stand ready to march into the very depths of darkness to ensure that their way of life and their people would survive, no matter the cost. For the culture that had been born from the survivors of the pre-fall defence force, civil cadres and law enforcement this sense of ever preparedness would gift them a keen edge that few would dare test and when the time came that it was tested Hive-Sec would never be found wanting. In this from the moment they are capable of understanding even the most basic of orders the so called ’White shields’ are organised into classes of bands of 24 where they will eat, sleep and train together through out their young age and into their teens before formally beginning their standing training that will see them enter the levy companies before passing on into either service as part of the enforcer companies or ranger platoons that make up the tip of the spear of hive-Sec forces and ground patrols. This constant focus on martial prowess leaves little room for much else unrelated to supporting to continuous military effort but gives Hive-Sec as a whole the best soldiers in the ruins bare non in comparative strength and ability, only being matched in close combat terms by the bloody clans of the cellborn. As such when not on assignment or carrying out their duties members of Hive-sec hone their edge alongside one another as soldiers in the days of antiquity would have done until the day that the call finally comes and all the life long training can finally be put into action against whatever foe may have raised its hand against the last bastion of order in the ruins. Should this be one of the cultures of the ruins in the myriad forms that have developed in the time since the fall then Hive-sec are more than obliging with showing these armed civilians how civil insurrection is dealt with by the last echoes of the time that was. Should it be the mutated spawn birthed during the fall however any respect for their foe is thrown away as their full vicious anger is unchained on mutant kind as a tide of well honed, drilled and disciplined retribution is unleashed in a wave of life long hatred. The first few days of the new season would see the 1st chapter encamped in their temporary positions since the clearance raid that had gifted them the remains of the pre-fall medical compound that they now occupied. Initially these first days would see work carried out to create a secure compound set up consisting of the most sturdy buildings amongst the medical facilities with some of the ward buildings in one case being returned to its original role, serving as the triage centre for the army with its accompanying wards once more looking to care for any wounded that found their way into its halls. Come the end of the week the 1st chapter would have their rapid defences in position and set for anything that might try to contest their hold on the region, the first loads of medical supplies being crated up and starting their slow winding journey back towards Hass west under the protection of several squads from the levy companies and a few teams of rangers enacting overwatch for the column. Other units would be assigned to patrol duties in the coming weeks as a full catalogue of the territory was passed down from the circle and by the eve of the fifth day of the second week these patrols would be established in strength to carry out the necessary tasks of identifying key locations, old stores or other points of interest and then clearing them and securing them for follow up by members from the Apothecary corp who were beginning to make their own way down to the 1st chapter’s latest find. This slow but steady flow of medical profession would see a steady increase and by the dawn of the final day of the third week the original medical and triage wing set aside for the army had swollen to include a pair of attached research units as the latest set of Apothecary corp having read the reports had spent the last 3 weeks petitioning both the Apothecary herself and the Logos Captain to allow them to deploy and examine in detail the proto swarm heart. The dawn chorus of barked orders and the smell of radiological suppressant would see in the final week of the month as the various research teams began to analyse and dissect what was left of the proto-heart, a constant UV glow coming from their portable lab set ups spilling out until those troops that had been sectioned off to assist in their effort were dubbed Ceebees by their fellow troops for the constant tang of anti-biological wash that would follow them everywhere they went, even after repeated attempts to wash what little splash back remained from their kit. Come the eve of the first month this constant process of patrols accompanying research details would settle the 1st chapter into a pattern as the army recoiled around itself, once again waiting for the chance to unleash as those that had missed the chance to truly engage with the new spawn of the proto heart set themselves to practice as the waiting began anew. The dawn of the second month would pass for the 1st chapter in this state of pent up tension as the ruins were scoured and cleared, for those that were not as a tuned to the shifting sense of the darkness that inhabited the former colony now a subtle change would go amiss, but for soldiers born to fight a never ending war this signs were like flares in the sky that soon those wishing to blood themselves would get their wish. Amidst the searching the number of scavengers in the area had begin to noticeably drop off, unaffiliated were a given anywhere in the ruins, opportunists and outcasts they roved in bands picking over the bones of the dead and dying for a chance at making a quick credit here or there, and more often than not a battle; even a small battle, would be like a dinner bell to them as they rode the coat tails of every military force like flees on a mangy dog. By the end of the second months first week however the number of roving bands had begun to disappear, the odd corpse turning up alongside what to others would be ominous stains down side alleys or at the entrances to tunnels of half collapsed overhangs. For the soldiers of Hive-Sec however these happenings were more than just random occurrences or petty violence and forward perimeter pickets were spread out in all directions around the army, sniper teams equipped with radio sets assigned sectors of watch and the army generally roused from its slumber. For the newer enforcers and rangers amongst the army this sudden activity caused a rippling spread of excitement to course through them at the prospect of combat, whilst the more veteran members set about their own preparations with a keen eye to their weapons. All this action would come to a head by the midst of the second week as seismic activity was picked up by the armies ancient but well maintained portable seismographs, rapid flurries of radio communications filled the airways as each picket checked in with command before settling into their position, and come the low eve of the third day of the second week these markings and happenstance would coalesce into something far more sinister. The stand too order would ring around across the 1st chapter’s central compound and all its defensive positions that it had erected over the previous weeks in quick succession as picket team after picket team reported confirmed contact with scout strains of the mutant swarm. The first few would be sent packing by well placed marksmen fire from the closest snipers as the howler strain alphas were picked off from distance, sending their pack into an uncoordinated frenzy. However within a few hours these scout organisms would be reinforced by far larger broods of patriarchs strain creatures and screeching hordes of harpies that would pour from their entrance vectors in a tide of mutant chitin, ichor and putrid flesh. Confirming by radio and in a couple of cases recon teams the 1st chapter would begin to flex and shift in response as the first main elements of the detected swarm rolled into the territory in a ravenous wave from the east. The first true engagements would come but a few days later at the midst of the second month as the leading packs made from the first scout strains to enter the territory pushed ahead in search of the detected prey. They would be met with a steel wall of disciplined soldiers and calculated cross fires that would leave them eviscerated upon the rockcrete as the mutants surged ahead down the central most route as the most direct route of movement. Centuries of fighting these creatures had taught Hive-sec well the first opening stages of an infestation, and with this they had moulded their tactics accordingly in response. Already at a reduced leadership thanks to the expert marksmen of the 1st chapter the first combined pack of howlers would charge towards the greatest concentration of biomass they could detect, accordingly the 1st chapter had set up a chain of well established hard points that could coordinate and support one another whilst reducing their troops direct contact with the enemy as Hive-Sec always expected to be outnumbered in these situations. In between these points combat teams of enforcer platoons, levy companies and ranger pairs would act as an elastic wall, constantly pouring fire into the swarm whilst maintain their distance until the critical point, at which they would begin to advance and drive the remaining mutants before them under a hail of fire and movement. This would see the first howler packs decimated on the wire as they failed to reach the hive-sec lines and the gestalt conscious of the mutants learnt that this prey was far more dangerous that its hungry mind had come to expect. By the months end this scene was repeating itself all over the territory as the swarm pushed and probed the Hive-sec lines, the 1st chapter responding with life long training and hardened discipline that would see each new wave of mutants repulsed under the sound of massed automatic weapons fire, grenade bursts and well executed advances pushing the swarm back beyond their engagement range and allowing the line to reset. Come the final days of the second month this constant ebb and flow had seen the initially aggressive swarm halted at the armies defensive perimeter with each day bringing a fresh wave of mutant spawn that would assault the line and be driven back, playing a form of stalemate as the swarm failed to adapt as Hive-sec began to learn the specifics of this swarm. The following few days would see the morn of the third month come and go to the echoes of weapons fire and animalistic shrieks filling the air through the day and night as ever so slowly the swarm continued to blunt itself on the 1st chapters position, and then be pushed back a single step. This initial step would not be without its casualties for the 1st chapter but it would set a precedent amongst the army as it fully threw itself into the fight against the swarm. To the north and south the companies of levy troopers would be assembled behind the line with lead forces made up of veteran enforcers equipped for assault actions alongside sniper teams of Rangers, here they would restock, rearm and be assigned to their positions with orders to await for a single army wide call. Less than a hour later this order would sing out across the airways to all units, the 1st chapter of Hive-Sec stepping up from their fire points and out into the ruins in one concerted blue and black wave that slammed into the closest swarms to the chorus of massed weapons fire and detonations. Entire swarms nesting in buildings simply ceased to exist in the first few hours of the assault, remnants scuttling about in confusion before disappearing down tunnels or turning tail and fleeing into the gloom. Though taken by surprise the gestalt entity that is the swarm soon responded in kind to the sudden attack by what it had considered upto this point as just stubborn prey. Flexing like one great muscle the swarm curled in on itself as packs of harpies descended on the assaulting hive-sec troops, wounded packs withdrawing under the aerial cover whilst those that could not disengage were thrown in suicidal frenzy at the soldiers of Hive-sec to allow other packs to be drawn away. This tactic would see the swarm across the entire northern and southern sectors of the territories eastern approaches sling back into the darkness as the assault continued whilst those in the centre attempted to respond by punching through the hive-sec defences they had already battered themselves against previously in another wave of bloody ichor dripping chitin and howling cries. This time however instead of just a solid defence the mutants were actively driven by coordinated effort into a pre-prepared kill zone, layered with mines and inter-lapping fields of fire those packs thrown in ravenous anger at the soldiers of the 1st chapter would see their doom as each pack that entered the position was reduced to unpleasant smears that left the few remaining strains to do no more than mill about in confusion before being put out of their misbegotten misery. By the end of the third week of the third month of the season the swarm would be pushed back into a rough blister around the tunnels in the east they swarm from, the various companies and elements of the 1st chapter digging in once more to contain the mutants in a smaller and smaller perimeter where the Hive-sec tactics of interlocking fire would see each swarm wave sent to push them back or devour them reduced to nothing more than a few scattered remains. In one of two places the swarm would being to adjust by this time however as in one position a enforcer unit became bogged down under successive waves and as their grenadier was hit the primed grenade in his hand killed him and the two troopers either side of him leaving a hole in their position. The mutants in that sector of the line would smell blood and swarmed the position almost overrunning it over a mountain of their own dead until the two supporting levy company platoons could swing the weight of their fire into position to clear them off of the enforcers and enable them to be rotated out and relieved. In the other position a levy platoon would lose its lieutenant and senior sergeant to a suicide run by a patriarch leaving a freshly promoted but as yet inexperienced squad sergeant in command, the situation may have proven dire for the unit except acting in support was a detachment from the dome reconnaissance task force, call-sign ‘Dominus’. Moving in the detachment managed to pull the levy platoon back together and hold the line as it deployed its emergency own asset, an apparent sentinel unit, into the fight to hold the position whilst the levy troopers regrouped and reformed their portion of the line. Come the final day of the month the 1st chapter would have a solid position containing the swarm in the eastern quarter of the territory with more of the located medical supplies flowing back to Hass east, and contact reports heading towards bastion. The mutants for their part would be viciously lashing out where they could but with that first step forward for Hive-sec against them, all it would take is another season and another step onwards, and those amongst the army with the veterancy to say they would see the mutant swarm pushed out from the Territory. Summary: With the conquest of the primus grade medical territory last season with its accompanying skirmish the 1st chapter had settled itself into a defensive posture, accordingly this nature has served the army well as it was engaged with a mutant swarm coming from the east. For what reason is has been driven this way is not yet understood but the 1st chapter has shown why Hive-sec are the pre-eminent mutant fighting force in the ruins as the swarm has clashed with Hive-sec in the eastern half of the territory. Accordingly the swarm has been repulsed and pushed back into the eastern most quarter of the territory with some 415 mutants killed for the loss of just over a company of troops from through the 1st chapter (Note: Standing strength of the 1st chapter is noted at 1895/2000, unidentified swarm strength calculated at 2585/3000) One hand gives, the other takes… As the 1st chapter battles its way through the ruins of the colony, task force dominus continues to make its presence known in the dome as it carries out its reconnaissance at the behest of the circle in bastion. Accordingly with each revelation or discovery the wider decisions relating to what steps to take next are widely debated by the various officers in the different corps of Hive-sec, whilst the circle itself spends hours discussing and weighing the options available to them. With the successful meeting between the tribal elders of the Silent and the lead elements of Dominus present within the dome new avenues of investigation have been opened to hive-sec as the Logos captain pushes for further deployments to put to use the information know in their hands, whilst the shadow captain in one of his rare moments cautions those assembled about the grasp of man and the motives there within. At this the Logos captain descends in a lengthy tirade about the potential useful information to be gained and is only cut off by a well time coughing fit by the Captain of the guard which results in the usual bout of muttered comments about brass for brains and snide looks in response. Cutting through the comments the Hunts master raises the question of the previously encountered Soulful tribe during the aborted recon mission. At this the circle finds common ground that with the newly available map they may be able to pin down a far more accurate local to their exact position as well beginning to put down physical markers as to the extent of the various tribes lands. Besides this the circle finds itself ruminating over the subject of the Neural net entity that dominus had encountered, reports from Corporal Lewis of Dominus had listed it as something that had both the civilian intelligence AIDA and the dome’s Security entity SENTINEL both concerned due to its perceived military nature in origin. A order docket is put together to be sent to dominus to begin to lay the ground work for a full analysis of this entity to discovery it true origins and if it was in fact a military grade AI if its construction lay with the pre-fall Hive-sec Cyber Intelligence division and whether any other elements of potential Hive-sec neural network infrastructure may still remain intact for recovery. Summary: 1) With the acquisition threw peaceful negotiation with the Silent tribe of the dome circle command has deemed it time to attempt to put this new intelligence to use to ascertain the exact territorial control of the dome currently held by the various tribes and where they may in fact currently inhabit. Further information will be available from Capt Briggs and McCaffery during the event. 2) With the appearance of a new entity within the domes neural net frame work the Logos captain and Hunts master have both expressed interest at the origins of this AI and whether it lies within pre-fall caches of hive-sec Cyber division networks that are still operational. As such they have dispatched a cyber expert from the logos captain to discuss the matter with Task force Dominus, they will be arriving early on during Friday with further information. Back to Downtimes